Mark Kirk was born in Champaign, Illinois on Sept. 15, 1959. His educational experience is extensive which includes attending the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico; earning a B.A. in history at Cornell University; earning a master’s degree from the London School of Economics; and finally earning a law degree from Georgetown University.

Following his collegiate career, Kirk served as an intelligence officer in the Navy Reserve from 1989 until 2013 when he retired with the rank of commander. In 1990, he worked at the World Bank. He worked for the State Department 1992-1993 and practiced law from 1993-1995 before serving as counsel to the House of International Relations Committee from 1995-1999.

He was elected to the House of Representatives in 2000 and served five terms before winning his election seat on Nov. 2, 2010. In January 2012, Mark Kirk suffered an ischemic stroke which required surgery.

Kirk returned to his seat a year later receiving cheers from his peers and considered it one of the greatest moments of his life.

Kirk currently serves on the U.S. Senate committee for Appropriations, Banking, Health, Education, Labor, Pensions and a subcommittee on Primary Health & Aging.

Photo by U.S. Government via Wikimedia Commons Tammy Duckworth

Tammy Duckworth

Senator (Democrat)

Tammy Duckworth was born in Bangkok, Thailand on March 12, 1968. Her parents worked for the United Nations doing refugee work so she lived in many places growing up including Indonesia, Singapore, Cambodia and Hawaii.

Duckworth attended the University of Hawaii where she earned her undergraduate degree and obtained her Master of Arts in International Affairs at George Washington University. She decided to pursue a political career and enrolled in the Political Science Ph.D. program at Northern Illinois University.

While attending NIU, she joined the Illinois Army National Guard Reserves. She trained as a Blackhawk pilot and was deployed to Iraq in 2004. While flying in Operation Iraqi Freedom, her helicopter was shot down resulting in the loss of her legs and function of her right arm.

During her period of rehabilitation, she became an activist for better medical care for wounded veterans and to help veterans facing homelessness.

In 2006 she was appointed as the director of the Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs and became the first disabled woman elected into the U.S. House of Representatives.

On Nov. 8 Duckworth will look forward to become the first disabled woman to be elected into the U.S. Senate.